Happy 2017!

Happy New Year!!  I hope you all had a safe & festive NYE!  We spent our day traveling home from California yesterday.  On our way home, we stopped at a view point in Northern California...here is us looking towards 2017! ;)

Today, I've been reflecting on what a wonderful year 2016 was.  There were both ups & downs, but I am so lucky to say that there were way more good things that happened than bad!  We moved cities, we bought a house, travelled to new places & had a new addition to the family.  Our family is happy & healthy...what could be much better than that?!

With that being said, there are a few things that I wish to work on this year.

Unplug - This year, I really want to limit the time I spend on my phone & watching tv.  It is so easy to get sucked into reality shows, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest...the list could go on & on.  I'm going to make a conscious effort this year to not aimlessly browse & waste my time on technology.  I'll opt to read a book or play with the dog instead!

Keep up with housework -  I've never been good at keeping up with household chores.  There always seems to be piles of dirty dishes in the sink or mountains of laundry to fold & put away.  I'm so bad at leaving clean clothes in the laundry basket, piling more & more clean clothes on top!  I'm hoping to be better about this :)

Healthier lifestyle -  This is usually one of everyones New Years resolutions, but I'm hoping to make it stick this year!  I am horrible at eating breakfast, even though I know that it is so important to start my day with a nutritious meal.  I would like to get on a schedule where every morning I wake up & eat a healthy breakfast.  Maybe find a yummy smoothie recipe?!  Or something that I can prepare the night before.

Do you have any New Years resolutions this year?  Share with me! :) XOXO

Christmas Recap + December Bucket List

 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  Every year, it seems like the holidays come & go way too fast!  I thought I would take a little time today to share what our Christmas looked like this year & to give an update on how my December Bucket List turned out!

This year was a very special one because we have a new addition to our family.  Our niece was born on November 26th.  It was so much fun to have a baby around this holiday, we love her so very much!  We all enjoyed spoiling her & loving on her...she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen!

We spent Christmas Eve with my family this year, having dinner at my grandparents & then going back to my parents house to watch movies & hang out.  All of my siblings & their significant others stayed at my parents house this year, a first in a very long time!  It was like we were all kids again.  We got up early Christmas morning to have breakfast & to open our presents, then Sean & I were off to spend Christmas day with his mom, stepdad, sister & her family.  The day after Christmas, we left for Sacramento to spend a few days with Sean's dad & stepmom.

If you read my December Bucket List post, you know that there were some things that I wanted to do this holiday season.  Most of the items on my list were accomplished...while some didn't go exactly as planned.  Here is a look!

Decorating cookies - This one definitely got accomplished.  We decorated cookies with my mom as well as my mother-in-law.  They were so delicious!  Sugar cookies, Russian tea cakes & peanut butter blossoms are what were made.  We still have containers full of cookies.  Yuuuuuum! 

Driving around to look at Christmas lights - Sadly, we didn't get to go to Zoo Lights, Peacock Lane, or the Portland International Raceway this year.  Every time we planned on going, they got cancelled because of the weather.  We did get to drive around & see some neighborhood lights, though!

Cutting down a tree - We did this at the beginning of December & it was our very first real Christmas tree!  I have to admit that I didn't realize how much work it was to have a real tree.  Getting it into the house without making a mess is impossible, we had to buy a tree stand & water it! Who knew? ;)  The hardest part I think was stringing the lights, though.  So different than setting up our pre-lit artificial tree!  Although it was definitely worth it to have that fresh, Christmasy smell :)

Decking the halls - If you happened to read my last post, you saw that we did indeed deck the halls!  We didn't decorate as much as we have done in the past, but I loved how simple our decorations looked this year.

Getting all cozy & watching a Christmas movie - We slacked big time when it came to watching Christmas movies this year.  This is one of my favorite things to do during the holidays & we just didn't have time for it this year.  I think the only time we actually got cozied up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn to watch a movie was on Christmas Eve.  We started to watch Home Alone & Sean & I didn't even make it to the end :(  Hopefully next year we will do better!

The Nutcracker - My mom, sister, grandma, aunt, cousins & I all went to The Nutcracker at the Oregon Ballet in Portland.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Of course I love it every year, but this year it was amazing.  We had a wonderful, fancy dinner before & saw the evening performance from the balcony.  There was a live orchestra which added to the magical evening.  This is always a favorite tradition of mine!

I would love to hear about your Christmas holiday!  Do you have any special traditions?  

Wishing you a happy New Year, see you in 2017!  XOXO

Six Months of Homeownership + Christmas Decor

Yesterday marked six months of owning our home!  I realize that I haven't done a home tour yet, but that's something that I am going to post after the New Year, when all of the holiday decorations are put away :) 

For now, here are a few pictures of some of the areas that are decorated & a look at some of our Christmas decorations!

As far as the house goes, we are pretty much finished with everything that we wanted to do.  There are a couple of projects that we would still like to do eventually, like build an outdoor patio area & get some built-in shelving in our master closet.  Aside from a few things that we still need to decorate (our master bedroom mainly) I am very happy with how it has all turned out!

I'm looking forward to sharing more with you, stay tuned for a full house tour!  XOXO